Well if you have had a copy of Target’s Coupon Policy in your binders, it is time to print another one. Target has updated its Coupon Policy and the most notable difference is now addressing the use of B1G1 Coupons. Since Target has never addressed the use of B1G1 coupons, it has pretty much been up to each store’s own discretion. That now changes with the new updated policy. You can view and print off a copy of Target’s Coupon Policy HERE. The following are the stated terms when using B1G1 coupons…

1. BOGO coupons cannot be combined (i.e. you cannot use two BOGO coupons on two items and get both for free). Unless stated otherwise on the coupon, the use of one Buy One Get One Free coupon requires that two of the valid items are presented at checkout of which one item will be charged to the guest and the 2nd item will be discounted by its full retail price.

2. A second cents-off coupon of the same type cannot be redeemed towards the purchase price of the first item.This means they are now prohibiting in writing the use of a $ Off manufacturer’s coupon on the non free item when using a manufacturer’s B1G1 coupon.

3. If a Target BOGO coupon is used, one additional manufacturer coupon maybe used on the first item.You can no longer use 2 manufacturer’s coupons against a Target B1G1 Store Coupon. So in other words if you have a B1G1 Free Pantene Target Coupon, you may only use one $1/1 Pantene Manufacturer Coupon, you can no longer use 2 manufacturer’s coupons against both items.

4. If a Manufacturer BOGO coupon is used, one additional Target coupon may be used on the first item.You can no longer use 2 Target Coupons against a Manufacturer’s B1G1 Coupon. So in other words if you have a B1G1 Old Spice Body Wash Manufacturer’s Coupon, you can no longer use two $1/1 Old Spice Body Wash Target Store Coupons along with it. you may only use 1 store coupon.

87 Responses to “Changes to the Target Coupon Policy”

When I 1st read the heading, Changes to the Target coupon policy I got really nervous. But after reading thru it I feel alot better, at my local Target they always treated the bogo coupons this way, so I’m glad to see nothing is changing for me. I do feel bad for everyone who is used to shopping the other way, it stinks having to change your routine up and learn something different!

I agree with Katherine and Amber. I never used BOGOs in this manner anyway so it doesn’t really affect me. Heck, I don’t think I have ever used a BOGO Q at Target ever. Their system is so complicated to begin with that it wasn’t worth the headaches. I think people have abused the BOGOs across the board at all stores and the stores are now finally catching on. I don’t think it has anything to do with TLC’s Extreme Couponing show. That show only features grocery stores. I actually think the blog world and social media sites have contributed to the crackdown and restrictions because now everyone and their brother are posting their hauls.

I know the economy is tough but saying you’re going to boycott a store because they won’t allow you to get tons of stuff for free anymore is just plain silly. There will still be great deals to be had. Take it from someone who doesn’t use BOGOs. I still get plenty of great deals by not using BOGOs and couponing responsibly.

This is definitely hurting the “non” extreme couponers like myself who are just trying to buy a few of an item at most and who at most grab an extra paper or two at the beginning of the month which there’s the extra PG insert. When I first started using coupons, I’d visit Target a lot b/c I love the availability of their store coupons matched with the manufacturer ones. Now, I limit myself to at most one visit per week because the deals aren’t so hot anymore. With all the drugstore deals and with the complicated above restrictions, I will definitely be going there less. I have been a bit frustrated on using their coupons including ones printed from their catalinas. For instance, the Revlon one is suppose to make for some free beauty tools (not including tax I’d pay for them). Instead, I’ve had cashiers argue with me that it has to be exactly like the photos on the catalina even though it says on ANY beauty tool. I’ve had other cashiers say I must spend at least $5 and wouldn’t just round it down. I’ve had others who simply told me I couldn’t use them. And as for those people that use multiple for same set of items, shame on you!

Do the manufacturers check the sales of their products compared to the # of coupons redeemed? If enough customers used BOGOs along with 2 MQs, it could affect the store’s redemption amount (not enough product sold compared to # of coupons). This was probably not an issue in the past, but with increased couponing (and some fraud), the manufacturers may be more strict about reimbursing the store.

I have been using coupons longer than most of you have been alive! I just appreciate the coupons at all. I feel that each business has the right to set their own rules and if I don’t like them, then I am free to shop somewhere else. And when you think about BOGO the B stands for BUY, therefore I always felt I needed to BUY one in order to get the other free. I think that’s pretty neat all by itself. So, let’s all stop whining and say thank you for accepting coupons and even allowing us to stack TQs with MQs.

I always thought you had to ACTUALLY BUY one product to get another one free, so I haven’t ever been brave enough to try to use to BOGO’s to get 2 things for free or wait for a BOGO sale and use a coupon. BUT…I have used a BOGO coupon with an additonal manufacturer’s coupon for a certain amount off. So, that part of the change bugs me. I am perfectly happy to ACTUALLY BUY something to get something for free…but still feel that I should be able to get a discount on the one that I am actually purchasing. I use coupons BECAUSE I wouldn’t pay full price for something even if I WASN’T getting something for free. Just my little opinion…I know it differs from everyone else’s.

I AM deeply concerned about target corp’s earnings. They seem to be having some growing pains. I am watchful waiting with the grocery /foods in the target stores. I think the grocery needs some experts to come in and give them that correct mix of merchandising with foods while at the same time maintaining the target magic special red. They need to brand identify that grocery department or ditch it. It seems to be dragging them down. I feel that the grocery items (particularly the refrigerated and freezer sections) are not cost leaders in the target merchandise mix, even though frozen foods are usually good profit margin items.
Anywhooo, keep an eye on the future of targets merchandising mix, because something has to give. I do not own stock in target, I just LOVE shopping there. I also am a loyal Kmart person as well. I think target needs to stay on the up and up or it will be crazy takeover time and then our coupons will be screwed or disappear.

I buy:
1 Degree deodorant + degree body mist spray(which is on special this week at Target) and use my 1- BOGO coupon = both FREE? or not? I have 1 coupon that I’m trying to use and don’t want to have problems at the register.

I think it should be obvious that you cannot use 2 MQ BOGOs and only be buying 2 of the products. However, I completely disagree about using a BOGO tq plus a BOGO mq to get both items free- that should be fair game. the offers are from 2 different sources so you are not “doubling up”. I also think you should be able to use 1 money off mq with a BOGO coupon, after all, you are still BUYING one.

Lisa: I do agree with you. If they put out the coupons, then we have the right to use them. However, looking at it from a sales and marketing perspectve, when consumers are using multiple B1G1’s and then stacking MQ’s on top of that, the merchants pay the price because it is up the store to control their coupon usage. This is where it is a priveledge and when the actions of a few abuse this priveledge, everyone pays. I mean, it could be worse, the could state you cannot stack coupons, or only one coupon per item, or limit the number of coupons used per transaction or currency or payment.

If the store offers to put out coupons to stack with MQ’s, then ultimately, the merchant will pay. So yes, as someone else has stated, the number sales compared to the revenue being paid to stores for coupons are not adding up and now they are pushing this back onto the stores forcing them to regulate coupon usage. Due to the new trends in couponing…they are taking it out on everyone.

Does this mean we can combine a B1G1 coupon with a B1G1 store promo- not coupon, and get both for free? As long as only one coupon is being used. I’m thinking about the Degree deal you posted earlier in the week?

I LOVE Target but lately their checkers have been giving me problems with my coupons. I do not have 100’s of them, I do not try and “sneak” one in for a different product, ect. I have coupon morals. While their prices have been getting lower the last 2 years, they seem to still be far behind other companies in their coupon policy, specifically Walmart. As much as I hate Walmart I have found myself there several times in the last 2 months because of their coupon price match policy. Where Target will make me price match at the service desk (big hassle) they also price match only 1/2 the ads I get in the paper since some require a loyality card. Walmart will match all the ads and in the checkout lane. I Wish Target would get out board and let their policy mirror Walmarts, especially the OVERAGE part:) That would win my loyalty back instead of only when they have a good sale.

I KNEW I was right!!! Ugh, I got into a “disagreement’ with the checker/.mananger at my local Target in Santa Ana, CA and she was WRONG! I truly feel like printing the new policy and taking it in to show HER, she needs to be educated! Thank you for posting this!!! I knew I was right, I will get a good night’s rest I LOVE Totally Target!!!! Thanks for all you do!

I had a totally weird Target experience the other day. I bought 2 34 ct. bags of Tide Action Pacs. I had 2 P&G $3/off coupons. When I checked my receipt, the first coupon scanned $3/off but the second scanned as $1 off (identical coupon). To further complicate matters, I got an unadvertised $5 Target gift card. I can’t for the life of me figure out what happened to the other $2 of the second coupon and if the gift card had anything to do with it. It still wound up being a good deal, but nothing in the Target coupon policy that I see addresses this. Any ideas?

What I dont’t like about Target is if you have to return an item they will only give you money back on what you pay out of your pocket and not the face value of the Q. Dont they get paid by the manufacture? Walmart returns to you full price and also kroger does.

Claudia – with a TQ, you get the amount minus the coupon, because Target ate that coupon amount. With a MQ, you get the full amount back no matter what, since they will get the coupon amount reimbursed.

Toni, just to let you know about the different pricing of items at Target stores, if there is a Super Walmart close to a Target store, it seems to me that pricing was always cheaper on a lot of items, and even clearance items. So one day I asked, and was told this, that they have comp people that go to stores in the area and have them check prices on items in the area, if they can lower the price of that item they will, most of the items they can, but there are some of them they wouldn’t be able to.

Well this well lessen my Target shopping. First off IT will NOT lessen the shelf clearers because they dont carry more than a few items at a time, Second this is not because of extreme couponers, but the ECONOMY has increased the coupon use by 58% last year alone, third it isnt the show. The show is a fake staged reality show. People just think of coupon users as low life individuals who are bad at budgeting. Well Rite aid will continue to get my business, Target not so much. Sad I had replaced crapmart with Target, guess now as they adapt to poor policy changes, I too will adapt to cheaper stores.

Mystery solved. Thanks. I’m not sure if I’ll avoid it in the future though seeing as it was a “hidden” gift card and the checker scanned through so many coupons at once (I saved $41.99 that day in stacked coupons, even with the glitch) that it was a done deal before I ever realized anything had happened.

The only thing I am upset about is if I use a bogo coupon, we cannot use a coupon on the item we are buying. I use to do this all the time to pay less out of my pocket, sometimes none. I will just use my target coupons at Publix since mine takes them as a competitor, it maybe a better option for me now.

Chava- I am not so sure about that since the glitch has seemed to morph into only being a $5 coupon value-eater now and it sounds like you had a lot in your order to absorb. What I am curious about is if you bought any other P&G items. Not sure if this is still happening- but in the past the Target registers would sometimes misapply P&G coupons- so wondering if you see $3 deducted from another P&G item that should have only had $1 deducted. so for example if you bought pampers wipes refill for $5.99 and had $1/1 coupon- you would see a $3 coupon deducted from the wipes when it should have been $1. and $1 from the tide when it should have been $3.

Ok, so I spoke to Guest services who directed me to my local Target manager (concerning the BOGO coupon for Degree/Body Mist). The manager at my local Target said that they would accept the coupon as long as both requirements were met. Both would be free, now I just gotta hope they have them in stock when I go shopping on the weekend, (they probably wont tho). But I hope this helps other people…talk to managment BEFORE you attempt the transaction, AND DONT GO WITH 50 COUPONS, CUZ THEY WONT ALLOW IT!

Yesterday, after my Target cashier had scanned and bagged all of my items, I handed her my coupons. On at least two items, she questioned the validity of the coupon. I removed the items from the bags, and after looking at them closely the checker agreed that I did have the correct items. She was very nice about it, but she also did insist that I prove that I had the correct coupon-to-item match-ups. She informed me that there had been recent problems with coupon fraud, and that employees had to check items carefully.

For all the people that don’t think it’s “right” to use an Amount Off Coupon along with a B1G1 Free Coupon… Here’s what I think, and please think about this scenario….
If I have a B1G1 Free Coupon for Coffee which is regularly priced at $8.99, and I use a $2.00 off for the first one, my purchase would be $6.99 for 2 coffees right?
If I go to the store the next week (after I used said coupons) and now there’s a sale on the coffee, priced at $6.99, then anyone could use a B1G1 Free Coupon and get the same price I did. So how is it not “right” to “Buy” 1 with an Amount off Coupon? To me, it’s just like buying it at a great sale price or even a clearance price. I’m still buying one – no specification on the coupon states that I have to “buy” that first one at Regular price! Also, If Target only allows us to use (1) B1G1 Coupon along with (1) Target Coupon, then how is that “stacking”? I have 2 products and only 1 MFR Q, and 1 TGT Q! They have just disallowed stacking on B1G1 Free items

My other thought here is that I wonder how the Manuf. are going to feel knowing that so many stores (now including Target) are making it so hard to use their coupons and purchase their products. Last week when we had that $5.00 off John Frieda coupon, I had a cashier that wouldn’t accept more than 1 per transaction because of the wording… and reading this blog, I saw that many other people had that same problem. Guess what I did? I put that John Frieda back because I didn’t want to do the deal if I couldn’t use the 3 coupons it took to get the Gift Card… With all these problems of not having the right item “pictured” on the coupons, etc., we are likely to put back the items and not get them at all. In the end, the manuf. are putting these coupons out to be used. They want us to try their products, and hopefully become life long customers. When Stores like Target make it hard for us to use those coupons, the manuf. are the ones that hurt. I just wonder if they ever get furious when hearing that their coupons are being refused?

Help me understand, Target says it can only accept 1 MQ and 1 TQ for the same item.

So if I have a $5 off two Clairol products MQ from P&G AND a $1 off Herbal Essence (Clairol brand) body wash. Can I use both when I buy 2 body washes?
This is just one specific example, but my question is in general how does it work for situations like this?

Also, If I have a BOGO for Panteene from P&G, can I also use the printed MQ that is $2.00 any Panteene product for that transaction?

I went to target today and bought three of the same item and had three manufactures coupons which state 4 is the limit and 2 target coupons, plus a few other coupons perhaps about 10, anyway the cashier told me that target had changed there policy and that target was only accepting 6 coupons per shopping trip, and also they were only taking 2 manufactures coupon and 2 target coupons for the same item not more regardless if its noted on the coupon. The cashier told me that target had changed there policy, is this true? Confused becuase I’m reading differently on there coupon policy.

Need help: At Target today I purchased the 6 Tide Oxi’s. With each 3 purchased you received a $10 target gift card. I had 3 B1G1 coupons for the the Tide Oxi. Target said I had to chose between get the 2 – $10 gift cards or using the 3 coupons. Is that correct? I thought I could use Manufacture Coupons on the items and still receive the gift cards. Would love some clarification.

I was at my local Target yesterday. A couple of my mobile coupons were not taken. I had TQ for these items as well as MQ. After checking out, I went to the customer service to ask why the mobile coupons were not deducted. She told me that you can only use a mobile Q or a TQ. Is this correct ? I have read the Target coupon policty and do not see this addressed.

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